Warning! Spoilers ahead forThe Last of Usseason 2.
From video game staples like Joel and Ellie to newcomers like Gail,The Last of Usseason 2 is full of fascinating characters, but some of them are more memorable, believable, and three-dimensional than others.The Last of Ussaga is built on a single core philosophy: simple stories, complex characters. The plotline, whether it’s a cross-country adventure to create a zombie cure or a ruthless city-wide quest for revenge, isjust a backdrop through which to explore emotionally rich relationships between flawed, well-rounded characters.The Last of Usseason 2 maintained this philosophy, with an unwavering focus on character.
Season 2 deepenedJoel and Ellie’s relationshipby showing how it fell apart over the course of five years, how they started to rebuild the burnt bridge, and how it was ultimately cut short. It introduced Abby, Joel’s mortal enemy, and established her sympathetic motivation for her reprehensible actions. Ellie fell in love with her best friend, Dina, and Joel sought therapy from Jackson’s resident stoner. Everyone inThe Last of Usseason 2’s castgave a great performance, but some of their roles had stronger writing and characterization than others.
8Gail
Played By Catherine O’Hara
Thanks to the unparalleled comedic talents of Catherine O’Hara, Gail is a very funny characterinThe Last of Usseason 2. She’s a great scene partner for Joel, tearing him down with a biting one-liner every time he tries to open up about his feelings or reach out on an emotional level (which is already incredibly difficult for him to do). ButGail just isn’t as believable as the other characters.
The Last of Usis streaming on Max.
She’s a fun, lighthearted presence to have in Jackson, but I don’t buy her as a real human being the way I do with all the other characters. She spends all her time day-drinking and smoking weed in the midst of an apocalypse. She’d be a great character for a spoof likeZombieland, but she feels out of place ina straightforward zombie drama likeThe Last of Us.
7Jesse
Played By Young Mazino
When the TV show first introduced Jesse, he perfectly captured everything that made his video game counterpart so lovable. He’s kind, funny, responsible but laidback, loyal to his friends, and even more loyal to his community. However,when he caught up with Ellie and Dina in Seattle, the character became very one-note.
His frustration with Ellie in the TV show is more believable than his chillness in the game. But as he lectures Ellie over and over again about how selfish and reckless and incapable she is, he starts to become very repetitive, and doesn’t seem like much of a friend. In the game, although Jesse believes Ellie’s quest for vengeance is reckless and irresponsible, he at least has some compassion about her motivation.
6Isaac
Played By Jeffrey Wright
The Last of Usseason 2 fleshes outthe leader of the W.L.F., Isaac. In the game, due to the nature of gameplay, he’s only shown from the perspective of the playable character, Abby. The TV show used its narrative flexibility to go back in time and fill in Isaac’s backstory. It expanded on the brief glimpse at his torture tactics from the game for a full-blown torture scene. It showed him as the leader of an entire army, not just as a mentor to Abby.
The TV show used its narrative flexibility to go back in time and fill in Isaac’s backstory.
His characterization as an evil tyrant is pretty straightforward. ButJeffrey Wright is always captivating, and he relished the opportunity to explore his video game role even further in live-action. Plus, the TV show hammers home the irony that Isaac overturned one fascistic organization only to replace it with another one.
5Ellie
Played By Bella Ramsey
Bella Ramsey gave a truly great performance as EllieinThe Last of Usseason 2. When they got the chance to show Ellie’s dark descent into vengeful rage, they nailed it. But Ellie waslet down by underwhelming writingthis season. Ellie’s personality didn’t change at all in the five years since the season 1 finale, and her demeanor didn’t change at all after Joel died. These changes are what made her arc in the game so compelling.
The TV show portrays Ellie as being oddly incompetent— she needed to be told to bring medical supplies on her cross-country journey. This has been excused by the fact she’s blinded by revenge, but that seems like a cop-out. In the game, she’s both vengeful and competent.
4Tommy
Played By Gabriel Luna
Joel’s brother Tommy gets a much bigger role in season 2, just like he did in the sequel game, as Joel and Ellie come to live with him in Jackson.The TV show cuts out a lot of Tommy’s storyline from the gameby having him come to Seattle after Ellie and not before her. Butit also adds a lot of interesting material for Tommy’s characterthat wasn’t in the game.
Whenthe infected horde attacks Jackson, we get to see Tommy as a leader and a protector. He gets one of the season’s most badass moments when he lures a bloater away from Maria and singlehandedly takes it down with a flamethrower. It was also heartwarming to see him embrace Ellie as a niece and become a father to a young son of his own.
3Abby
Played By Kaitlyn Dever
Kaitlyn Dever was faced with the most daunting challenge inThe Last of Usseason 2’s cast. She had to playthe game’s most controversial character, Abby, a role that garnered widespread backlash and even death threats when the source material was released. Dever had to kill everyone’s favorite character and still get audiences excited to spend the whole next season following her story — and do so with very little screen time.
Dever had to kill everyone’s favorite character and still get audiences excited to spend the whole next season following her story — and do so with very little screen time.
And, amazingly, Dever pulled it off. She captured Abby’s toughness, her true grit, and her vengeful rage. But she alsoconveyed so much depth and vulnerability under the surface. Every time she showed up, she commanded the audience’s attention.The Last of Usseason 3is in very safe hands with Dever’s Abby.
2Dina
Played By Isabela Merced
From the very first episode of the season,Dina stole the show. Isabela Merced perfectly replicates everything that made Dina such a wonderful character in the game: her kindness, her thoughtfulness, her fun-loving attitude, her goofy sense of humor, her love for Ellie — she got everything right. Dina took a backseat in the last couple of episodes, when she had an arrow in her leg, but she carried the first five.
The Last of Usseason 2 made some major changes to Dina’s story from the video game, like giving her Tommy’s role as Joel’s patrol partner in his death scene and having her at Ellie’s side when she first encounters the Seraphites.
As the season went on, Dina overshadowed Ellie. At times, it seemed as though Dina wanted revenge for Joel’s death more than Ellie. She had to remind Ellie why they were in Seattle, and she had to talk her out of turning back.
1Joel
Played By Pedro Pascal
Even though he was taken out of commission very early in the season,Pedro Pascal’s Joelis still the best part of the show. Ever since Joel was killed by Abby, he’s been sorely missed.Season 2’s flashback episode was a timely reminder that Joel and Ellie’s lovable on-screen dynamic was the heart of the show, and the reason audiences got instantly hooked in season 1.
Joel’s untimely death was important for the story the show started telling in season 2, but it also deprived The Last of Us of its best character.
Joel’s untimely deathwas important for the story the show started telling in season 2, but it also deprivedThe Last of Usof its best character. There are plenty of great characters left behind, from Dina to Abby to Joel’s next of kin, Tommy. But there’s still no suitable replacement for the guy who’s as much a loving father as he is a ruthless zombie slayer.
